This volume offers a broad re-assessment of the standard, consensual view of the postwar era in British party politics. Drawing on the work of a number of younger British historians, it challenges the orthodox view of Conservative and Labour policy making being based on similar principles, forged out of the supposed wartime consensus.

From economic policy, to grass-roots beliefs, the "Myth of Consensus" offers a challenging new view of what has often been hitherto cosidered a closed subject. It is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the realities of the relationship between party and policy-making on post-war Britain

I really enjoyed reading this book.It has everything a beginner(me)looks for a in a book. I would recommend it to anyone who is wanting to learn Turbo Pascal Quickly and thoroughly.

Walking into a colleague's office and noticing papers scattered all over her desk and shelves, I remarked on the apparent disorganization. She explained that from her standpoint everything was organized and easy to find. Randomness, she said, is observer dependent.

This is the theme taken in this book, namely tha a proper concept of randomness is not an intrinsic property of a collection or a distribution, but rather is dependent of the tools and computing capabilities of the observer. The concept of a pseudorandom distribution is introduced as a distribution where no efficient procedure or program can distinguish it from a uniform distribution. Pseudorandom generators are polynomial-time deterministic programs that take a randomly selected seed and expand it into a pseudorandom bit sequence.

The preliminaries/introduction gives an overview of sets, set functions, big-O, little-o notation, and most importantly from the author's standpoint, function and probability ensembles. He defines what it means to have a source of random bits, but does not give algorithms on how to produce them. Complexity classes are also discussed for both the deterministic and probabilistic cases, along with a very brief review of probability.

Private key cryptosystems begin the next chapter with an example of a one-time-pad private key cryptosystems. Pseudorandom generators are introduced as a solution to the problem of sending secure messages that are longer than the private key.

The author does a good job of defining computational and statistical indistinguishability, and the connection between 1-way functions and pseudorandom generators. What is interesting about all of these constructions is that they are based on sequences of probability distributions (called ensembles in the book) instead of a single probability distribution. The author defines ensembles as being different and close in the statistical sense and then uniform and pseudorandom.

The approach he takes is helpful because he gives informal definitions to develop the reader's intuition and then moves on to the formal definitions. After reading the book, one takes away an appreciation of what pseudorandomness is all about and how it applies to cryptography.

I have used several editions of this book in my introduction to public administration courses; I have been very pleased by the breadth of coverage as well as the clarity of the exposition. In particular, the book adopts a strongly political view of administration in the public sector that is easily translatable to the classroom.

In particular, the authors adopt Yates' framework of administrative efficiency vs. pluralistic democracy early in the work and this framework serves to inform the discussion of policy, personnel, budgeting, decision making, et cetera. This provides the book with a strong thematic component that I have found lacking in other books of this type.

A couple of criticisms: The sections on ensuring democratic processes in public administration is a bit confusing and lacks a unifying theme. However, the elements of the discussion are there and can be easily clarified in a classroom discussion.

Secondly, and this is a quibble is that the treatment of alternative decision making models is a bit sketchy, but then again this is an introductory tome.

All in all a good, useful and CLEAR book for undergrad courses.

I picked up the paperback version of this in a bookstore in Lewes, Sussex: This is a good book to look at as a reminder of an area visited. Photographs on every page, with a paragraph or two of caption text, the photos are good, the text informative. Not a classic coffee table book unless you have spent time there.

I'm a user of 3D Studio R4, and so I thought that I could easily transfer the lofting skills into 3ds max without too much of a problem. This book, however, doesn't use many of the techniques used in the Inside 3DStudioR4 book by New Riders. It's definitely not for beginning users looking to learn the fundamentals of using 3DSmax. I was disappointed at its learning curve, but I assume if you're comfortable with 3DSmax1, then this book might be for you. If somebody knows a book for 3DSmax2 that is in the same vein as Inside 3DStudio R4, then please email me ;)

Many books on the market will give you step by step instructions how how to create a scene, or create certain effects. Although this is sometimes handy, it doesn't easially allow the user to incorperate the skills they learned into their own work.

Inside 3D Studio Max shows you the concepts behind how the program works, and allows you to apply these concepts, and skills to your own work, rather than a preformatted tutorial. It is this fact, however, that makes the book not extremely useful for modelers who are new to the program. This book often speaks of the manual which ships with 3DS Max, and the writer made it clear that this was not yet ANOTHER MANUAL. Inside 3D Studio Max explores how to expand your ability.

If you have no prior modeling practice, read the manual which ships with Max, then buy this book. If you do that, you will appreciate what is taught in this massive book.

This is an overall GREAT book, and it has really helped me to become a much better 3D artist.

There's a thing common to all classic books: even if you've read one from cover to cover you discover something new every time you open it. Things that you glossed over earlier suddenly start to make sense. This book is no exception. Since 'Inside 3D Studio Rel. 3' the authors have provided an unique insight into the world's most popular 3D programs. This book raises the standard even further, providing enough grip for the novice and a treasure trove of knowledge of the professional. The best thing about this book is the explanation of the PRINCIPLES behind 3D Studio MAX. Instead of the 'do this-screen shot-do that' methodology, the authors have concentrated in the core ideas behind every tool and procedure. If you want MAX to be an extension to your right brain, get this book. Read it all the time. Do the tutorials. Keep referring to it for ideas. You'll discover what you were missing with other books -- the real goods on making MAX dance to your tune.

Considering that the 1978 Yankee team is my all-time favorite, it was disappointing to realize that the first 200 pages of a roughly 360 page book was NOT really about the 1978 season. Kahn spends those first 200 pages talking about other "miracle" teams and great seasons, the origin of the Yankees, and Yankee owners and players pre-1978. If I hear about the "dreary CBS Yankees" one more time...

If you already have some grasp of baseball and Yankee history, that makes those 200 pages mostly a wash. That stuff, as well as mini-bios of 1978 Yankee ownership, executives, and players, should have been put into the first 10 pages or better integrated into an account of the '78 season.

Beyond that, Kahn seems a bit pompous and playing for history.
He has unfavorable things to say about more than one journalist from the era, while getting in things like how "The Boys of Summer outleaped (the New York) Times Snide and went to the top of the best-seller lists." (p. 247)

Great, Roger, but I was hoping this book would be less about your reminiscing about baseball, Yankee (and some Dodger!) history and more for the educated fan of the 1978 Yankees. "The Bronx Zoo," by Sparky Lyle and Peter Golenbock, while not up to the standard set by "Ball Four" by Jim Bouton, is still your best bet when thinking about picking up a book about the 1978 Yankee squad.

This is a terrific book that I could not put down.

I was so surprise by it's contents. Most sports books about a certain event, there is the obligatory "Background chapter" where a brief history is given and then a great deal of detail about the event. Not so here.

Mr. Kahn first presents a detailed history of the Yankees, a history involving money, sports and racism. In learning about the early Yankees and their special relationship with and the Red Sox, Mr. Kahn presents lot more pieces to the Babe Ruth Acquisition than I had known.

It was fascinating to read about the previous owners, their relationships with their Managers and General Managers. There are reminders of the days before free agency, when the owners virtually owned the players.

But more than just one pennant race, one great season, this is story about people. It is story about the self-destructing Billy Martin, the Powerful George Steinbrenner...it's a story about Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Al Rosen and so many others. Its about how a baseball team is run and it is also a story about the reporters who covered them.

If you like baseball, if you like the Yankees this behind the scenes look at a century, a decade and especially a year is compelling. Just remember: The 1978 World series is the conclusion of a great tale, the book is about so muc more than one year.

Roger Kahn, who I consider the best baseball writer of all time, has done it again with October Men. In his gifted, wonderfully unique style, Kahn takes us through the zany 1978 season with the New York Yankees. But the book also gives us insightful backgrounds into the main Yankee characters and an interesting, informative historical perspective on the Yankee dynasty. By far this is his greatest work since The Boys of Summer (and he has had many great books since that 1971 classic) and is a MUST read -- not only for Yankee fans -- but for all sports fans in general. A truly great work from a truly great author.

I knew in the very beginning that it's not a trading book that an investor/trader would immediately relate with the name "George Soros". I had even scanned through chapters before I picked it from the shelf. However, I had been charmed by the eight pages of photos and the very handsome portrait of George on the front cover. The result: I was still very disappointed by the sheer absence of trading content/stories. Disgarding the content, the writing of Kaufman was far behind the standard set by Sylvia Nasar in "A Beautiful Mind".

Kaufman (New York Times journalist) chronicles George Soros's life and wide-ranging accomplishments as creative hedge fund manager, destroyer of foreign currencies, innovative philanthropist, and promoter of open societies and democracy. The author traces his youth growing up in Hungary, hiding from the Nazis, taking a degree at the London School of Economics, and working in London at an initial salary of seven pounds a week. Soros departed to America at 26 for a job on Wall Street with a five-year plan to accumulate $500,000. By 1973 he left his lucrative Wall Street position to set up Soros Fund Management and attracted wealthy investors. Every $100,000 invested grew to $353 million by 1998, and the value of his Quantum Fund reached $6 billion. In the 1970s Soros commenced philanthropic activities, strongly influenced by the "open society" ideas of Karl Popper but motivated somewhat by the reduction in estate taxes. Kaufman describes the foundations and Open Society programs Soros established in Eastern Europe, China, Russia, the former Soviet republics, and the US. See also Robert Slater's Soros (CH, May'96). This biography of the remarkable life of an eclectic billionaire is recommended for public, academic, lower-division undergraduate and up, and professional library collections.

Although this book is lacking on investment/trading ideas, I feel that by reading it, invaluable lessons can be learnt that will help one become a better trader/investor. No doubt George Soros is the greatest money manager in the world, but do you think it is his investment ideas and analysis that gives him the edge over others? No! It is his personality, and this book gives you an insight look into the character of this amazing man. If you wanna know how this man can bet billions against the Bank of England and still be able to sleep at night, read this book.

Critical elements of George Soros' personality as the world's greatest trader:
1. Believe in your own fallibility. To put it in another words, be humble and always believe that you can be wrong and when that happens, don't hesitate to change your stance. You will be surprised how this man can change his mind with such ease, in all aspects of his life, just so long as there is a reason for it. It is his central philosophy in life to believe in his own fallibility, therefore, he is so self-critical.

2. The ability to compartmentalize. Which means this man has an extremely high EQ. As a trader, it is important not to let your personal affairs affect your trading performance, as mental concentration is of utmost importance. Soros has shown this trait throughout the book where he can immerse himself into his million dollar philantrophic activities just minutes after losing a couple of millions in a trade. Perhaps this man is so rational that he is devoid of emotions?

3. The ability to take risk. A life that is always on the edge and full of uncertainty is not something that everybody can live with, much less excel in it. But hey, this man survived the holocaust through his childhood living on the edge of life and death. What's so big deal about money? Personally, I feel without the experience of his childhood, he will not be what he is today.

4. Competitive intensity. As a trader, you make what you deserve, and when you are wrong, you pay for it. If you are not one who embrace free competition, you can't be a trader. And this man likes competition so much that he will hire expert tennis players to play with him. In terms of money managing, his desire to achieve maximum returns is a crucial factor. And mind you, it is not greed that we are talking about, it is the desire to compete and be challenged.

5. Intuition. Some say George Soros has strong survival instinct. One example is how his back aches serves as a warning about a position in a portfolio. Is it trading intuition at the highest level?

An extraordinary man indeed!

Author Michael Lind, a 5th generation Texan, provides a dual biography of a President and the state of Texas. This is what makes it so interesting. Many authors have recently published books regarding Bush 43's personality and policies, specifically, in response to September, 2001. In this book however, Lind analyses and examines George W. Bush's policies and links them to the influential continuum of the cultural and political forces of Texas: the Deep South, Southern Protestants, and the Neo-conservative foundations that were solidified by his father's, administration. In short, what he's doing today according to Lind is not solely or even significantly as a result of September '01. Obviously as for any policy-maker, Bush 43's current policy-making in general is derived from himself, and his convictions are the result of his primary influences, past and present. Therefore the question is, what is this spectrum that influences him the most?

Texas
Lind expands more on his home-state of Texas. The state of Texas is often seen misappropriately, as culturally Western, but in fact it's clearly Southern, and Deeply Southern. This has always been apparent to those who've lived in and/or studied the South and Texas.

There are two camps in Texas: One is the "Texas modernists," of which Bush 43 is not. Lind categorizes Bush 43 as one of the "Texas traditionalists." These are proponents of militarism and an economic base focusing on commodity exports and oil exploration. This southern economic model which George W. advocates, Lind claims, will continue to push for free-trade agreements which send U.S. jobs oversees, and entice out-of-state companies to move to southern states because of lower wages.

These are but a few examples and insights Lind provides. He's not a fan of George W. but this isn't over-bearing in the book. If one wants to understand the rational and philosophy behind Bush's domestic and foreign economic, military, and diplomatic policies this book provides a wealth of information. It also explains the interests, cultural, sociological, and political forces of Texas, and its' major components. Those interested in national electoral politics such as the next Presidential election for example, can take much of this information and ask them self: who in 2004 can appeal to the southern block, which still is obviously instrumental in winning a Presidential election.

First, to be honest, I did not vote for George W. Bush. Probably like many people I viewed him as well-meaning but under-informed, an underachiever in life who was handed the reins of power through pure luck and powerful connections. I was sure, with the help of his father and the elders in the Republican Party, he would surround himself with competent advisors and ultimately pursue a course of moderation and good sense in both domestic and foreign affairs. Therefore, when some of the early initiatives out of the White House seemed counter to earlier expectations (abrogation of important treaties, anti-environmental positions, unilateralist and militaristic approaches to complex world problems, a dangerous and unbalanced approach to the Middle Eastern crisis) my visceral discomfort with this man has evolved into alarm. This book by Michael Lind confirms my worst fears. It is a scholarly and objective survey of the culture from which our president arose. As Lind points out, we have had southerner presidents who were liberals and northerner presidents who were conservatives, but never since Andrew Jackson have we had a southern conservative holding the most powerful office in the land. Lind does a thorough job of analyzing the state of Texas from the demographic standpoint, pointing out that the majority of the population reside in East Texas which is intrinsically part of the deep south. These people largely originated in Scotland and Northern Ireland (Scots-Irish) and brought with them to this country a 17th and 18th century British outlook on class and empire, typified by the attitudes of a land-holding aristocracy. In an economic sense their ancestral model is Thomas Jefferson. In a chapter entitled "Southernomics" he describes how this region evolved on the plantation model of extraction of raw materials (oil, cotton, minerals, etc) and the exploitation first of slaves and more recently of low wage and undereducated menial workers (modern day "serfs"). This model favors "free trade" and opposes tariffs in order to maximize profit in the exportation of commodities. It places low value on preservation of natural resources while promoting their extraction and utilization. Lind contends that this model has shaped our 43rd president's thinking about economics. He contrasts an "old boy network" style of management and connections peculiar to the deep South with the traditional culture that shaped most of the rest of the country, one that is based on an economic model of meritocracy, emphasis on the creation of ideas, the valuing of higher education as the key to economic development. Lind is careful to avoid over-generalization as he points out that Texas is a diverse state, and that these two economic models both exist in the state and are in fundamental conflict. For example, he points to many Texas leaders who typify modern liberal enlightenment attitudes, people like Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Wright Patman, and Ross Perot.

The most disturbing aspect of this book for me begins with a chapter entitled "That Old Time Religion" which exposes the influence of the southern Protestant fundamentalist religious culture on George W. Bush, and how this in turn has become a driving force in the almost messianic identification of this president with the right wing in Israel and Mr. Sharon. This plays into fundamentalist dispensationalist dogma about the End-times, Armageddon, and The Second Coming. It further sheds light on the peculiar alliance of these mostly southern Protestant militaristic and fundamentalist masses (who provide the electoral clout) with a powerful intellectual neoconservative elite (who provide the brains) and who now control our defense department. These people hold a radical and fundamentally new view of American foreign policy, one that promotes a doctrine of preemption and the aggressive exercise of American military power. They are tightly allied with the Zionist movement both here and in Israel.

This is a powerful and very disturbing book. Michael Lind has tried not to over-emotionalize this information but he obviously feels passionately about these issues. He has given us a well-researched and thoughtful expose' of the real forces that are driving this president. Everybody should read it!

First, to be honest, I did not vote for George W. Bush. Probably like many people I viewed him as a well-meaning, under-informed and recently reformed "goofball", an underachiever in school who was handed the reins of power through pure luck and powerful connections. I was sure, with the help of his father and the elders in the Republican Party, he would surround himself with competent advisors and ultimately pursue a course of moderation and good sense in both domestic and foreign affairs. Therefore, when some of the early initiatives out of the White House seemed counter to earlier expectations (abrogation of important treaties, anti-environmental positions, unilateralist and militaristic approaches to complex world problems, a dangerous and unbalanced approach to the Middle Eastern crisis) my visceral discomfort with this man has evolved into alarm. This book by Michael Lind confirms my worst fears. It is a scholarly and objective survey of the culture from which our president arose. As Lind points out, we have had southerner presidents who were liberals and northerner presidents who were conservatives, but never since Andrew Jackson have we had a southern conservative holding the most powerful office in the land. Lind does a thorough job of analyzing the state of Texas from the demographic standpoint, pointing out that the majority of the population reside in East Texas which is intrinsically part of the deep south. These people largely originated in Scotland and Northern Ireland (Scots-Irish) and brought with them to this country a 17th and 18th century British outlook on class and empire, typified by the attitudes of a land-holding aristocracy. In an economic sense their ancestral model is Thomas Jefferson. In a chapter entitled "Southernomics" he describes how this region evolved on the plantation model of extraction of raw materials (oil, cotton, minerals, etc) and the exploitation first of slaves and more recently of low wage and undereducated menial workers (modern day "serfs"). This model favors "free trade" and opposes tariffs in order to maximize profit in the exportation of commodities. It places low value on preservation of natural resources while promoting their extraction and utilization. Lind contends that this model has shaped our 43rd president's thinking about economics. He contrasts an "old boy network" style of management and connections peculiar to the deep South with the traditional culture that shaped most of the rest of the country, one that is based on an economic model of meritocracy, emphasis on the creation of ideas, the valuing of higher education as the key to economic development. Lind is careful to avoid over-generalization as he points out that Texas is a diverse state, and that these two economic models both exist in the state and are in fundamental conflict. For example, he points to many Texas leaders who typify modern liberal enlightenment attitudes, people like Lyndon Johnson, Sam Rayburn, Wright Patmon, and Ross Perot.

The most disturbing aspect of this book for me begins with a chapter entitled "That Old Time Religion" which exposes the influence of the southern Protestant fundamentalist religious culture on George W. Bush, and how this in turn has become a driving force in the almost messianic identification of this president with the right wing in Israel and Mr. Sharon. This plays into fundamentalist dispensationalist dogma about the End-times, Armageddon, and The Second Coming. It further sheds light on the peculiar alliance of these mostly southern Protestant militaristic and fundamentalist masses (who provide the electoral clout) with a powerful intellectual neoconservative elite (who provide the brains) and who now control our defense department. These people hold a radical and fundamentally new view of American foreign policy, one that promotes a doctrine of preemption and the aggressive exercise of American military power. They are tightly allied with the Zionist movement both here and in Israel.

This is a powerful and very disturbing book. Michael Lind has tried not to over-emotionalize this information but he obviously feels passionately about these issues. He has given us a well-researched and thoughtful expose' of the real forces that are driving this president. Everybody should read it!

This book was a waste of money. It is more of a beginner's guide and tutorial than a reference book. Needs to add a reference section for all of the functions available in the formula editor. Even though the cover claims .NET programming, there were no samples. The CD contains only 24 sample reports (they could of used a floppy instead). If you are new to Crystal Reports go ahead and get this. If you have any experience don't bother.

I purchased this book as a reference. Fortunately, I had a separate training course for learning the Crystal application. And I now teach the product.

It's a good reference. I truly haven't had a question yet regarding basic or advanced procedures in the application that I couldn't find. But I would not recommend it for learning the application. It is dense.

I'm also disappointed that it is not very different from the CR 8.0 manual published by Crystal Decisions. The layout and procession of the book are virtually the same! It could have included more tutorials, too.

One thing that I would love for any CR reference/manual to include is a list and description of all the formulas in the system. To my knowledge, this does not exist anywhere, even in Crystal's own documentation.

PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
If you need a solid reference and didn't purchase manuals with Crystal, this will work. If you need to learn the product, get something else.

I develop financial reporting applications for various companies using VB and VBA. Recently I have completed a financial reporting system completely within Access 2000 making extensive uses of Access's report objects.

Although the Access report object does its job well, it lacks a lot of power features, i.e., limited grouping capabilities, formula in text boxes is limited to a simply expression unless you make a call to UFD, then you would loss your object encapsulation, etc, The Data Report object is VB6 is still some what of a joke, but let not open this can of worms. Thus, I have chosen Crystals reports for my developing needs.

I find George Peck's Complete Reference series very helpful. The book has 800 pages to teach me every nuance of Crystal. This book does not teach me anything about VB coding nor does it contain a reference to the object model within the RDC or any of the other object models in Crystal. I didn't buy this book to learn how to code. The author noted in page 659 specifically that the book is not meant to teach you Visual Basic.

Overall, this book gets me up to speed quickly and it's a good reference source for my future needs. Personally, I don't find the crystal help files very helpful.